


Sunrises

by iscythea



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Christmas fic, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 09:18:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13143642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iscythea/pseuds/iscythea
Summary: Akechi and Akira go for a winter bike ride. Done for @gabrealreyes on twitter as their shuakeshu secret Santa gift!





	Sunrises

Akechi was sure nothing could compare to the feeling of an early morning bike ride.

The harsh wind whipping into your cheeks until they went numb, the cold biting through your jacket, and the shriek of an alarm at five in the morning all seemed like a recipe for suffering. However, as your stiff muscles slowly got used to the pedaling, and your half-asleep brain fell into the groove of mindless exercise, the sleep was pushed out of your body and replaced with a sharp mindfulness. It was hard to brood on a bicycle, and for someone whose mind seemed to constantly fall into that pit, sometimes physical labor was the only way to anaesthetize yourself.

Well, Akechi liked it, at least. On the other hand…

“How are you doing back there, Akira?”

A vague boast had crept into Akechi’s voice; after all, he’d expected to see the former phantom thief wheezing and half-dead on his bike. 

However, it died almost instantly when he peeked over his shoulder to see Akira keeping pace almost perfectly. His form left much to be desired, but in terms of sheer stamina, Akechi had been foolish to dismiss Akira. Of course, college was expensive, and his boyfriend was often working multiple part-time jobs- usually just as strenuous as his old beef bowl gig- to provide a little cash. Add in Akira’s old friend Ryuji often pulling him along for to the gym or for a run, and it was no surprise Akira was in surprisingly good shape. 

Of course, being an ex-phantom thief didn’t hurt. 

“I’m hanging in there,” Akira replied, and although Akechi had once again focused his attention on navigating the tunnel they were passing through, he couldn’t miss that signature curt confidence in his voice.

Before long, the inky darkness of the tunnel broke into the glow of pre-dawn. The cold December sky over the coast was dyed a warm pink as the sun approached, and the gentle colors reflected on the flat plane of the sea. 

But Akechi wasn’t paying attention to the view. Instead, he was watching Akira’s face as it filled with the faintest hint of wonder, the rose sky reflecting in his glasses. 

“Our stop is up on the right around here,” Akechi finally said with a smile, and the act of speaking felt like a betrayal. Like he was breaking a spell or something. 

Maybe he was. Maybe the sun would rise, the gods would notice the trick he’d pulled on them- Goro Akechi being happy despite everything he’d done- and, like in an ancient folk tale, it would all evaporate like mist in the morning. 

But until then, he would take his chances. 

“Ah, it’s right here,” Akechi called out, coasting to the side and dismounting in one fluid movement. As he slid the kickstand into place with the top of his foot, he half-expected Akira to comment on how ungorolike their stop was. 

It barely counted as a picnic spot. The most basic wooden park bench imaginable sat battered by the salty air, with none of the amenities even the smallest Tokyo park provided. But the view more than made up for it. The ocean stretched as far as the eye could see at the foot of the cliff, and the distant sound of the waves was only rarely interrupted by a passing car. The indigo sky was bisected by the line of the sea, and for a moment, all of the world fell away. 

“Wow.” Akira said, looking up from his bike. He slid the kickstand into place with one hand while pulling a thermos from his messenger bag with the other, and sat next to his boyfriend. “You said this was a special place, but I wasn’t expecting… this.”

Akechi accepted the cup of coffee from his outstretched hand and took a seat, adjusting his winter hat. Now that the pair was no longer moving, the cold had begun to bite into their skin again. Akechi didn’t hesitate to press against Akira, leaning onto his shoulder as he watched a flock of seagulls coast across the sky. The only sound was their breath as they relaxed. 

“So,” Akira began. He punctuated his sentence with an easy sip of black coffee- tipping it back like it was water- before continuing. “How’d you find this place? I know you know your way around every corner of Tokyo, but this seems…”

“Unfitting for me?”

“I was going to say outside your scope of knowledge.” 

Akechi paused for a bit, watching the cream bleed into his coffee and feeling its heat bleed through his gloves. 

“I got into a fight with a foster parent when I was 12 or so. I believe it was over something insignificant, but… I just wanted out of the house. So I grabbed my bike and pedaled as far as I could.” Akechi focused on the sea below, watching the white crests sweep over the dark depths. 

“I was convinced every policeman in Tokyo was looking for me, so I wanted to get as far away as I could. The adrenaline wore off eventually, and by the time my legs gave out, I had made it out here.”

The sea roared in his ears. 

“A passing motorist called the cops on me, thinking I was lost. Which I was, I suppose, but… That foster family gave me up within the week.”

“Sounds rough.”

“It was at the time, but I had gotten used to it at that point. I came back here a lot over the years.” Akechi fished a sandwich out of the bag and unpeeled it, pushing the tomatoes out of the way before taking a small bite. “It was rare for me to act out like that, however-“

He was interrupted by Akira resting his free hand over his, working his fingers between Akechi’s. Akira buried his lips into his honey-brown hair, pressing a kiss to the top of his head, before laying his head on Akechi’s. 

“I don’t need comforting,” Akechi huffed; it was a knee-jerk reaction more than anything else, what his therapist had identified as a defense mechanism of his. 

“You’re brooding again, I can tell.” Akira murmured into his hair, his breath warm against Akechi’s frozen ear. “I just wanted to remind you. You can talk it out if you want to, but I’m not going to make you talk about it.”

He moved so that Akechi’s head was resting in the crook of his neck.

“I’ll be here for you either way. That won’t change.”

Of course Akira would say something like that.

It was so trite and normal that it made him want to laugh. Someone like Goro Akechi wasn’t allowed that everyday happiness. It felt like a cosmic joke. The daily joys of a shared lunch, a goodbye kiss in the morning, or laughing at a terrible movie at night seemed… so alien to him. They seemed as remote to him as life on another planet. 

But here Akechi was, sipping coffee and watching the sunrise on Christmas morning with his boyfriend, like the most normal couple in the world. 

And almost on cue, the sun broke through the barrier of the horizon, and Akechi didn’t miss how Akira’s hand tightened around his own. Even after traversing a parallel world borne of twisted desires for a year, there were things that could still take Akira’s breath away. Akechi felt a vague sense of accomplishment that was quickly replaced by the feeling of Akira’s lips on his. 

“Hey… Merry Christmas, Goro. And… Thanks for showing me this.” 

On a cold December morning, Akechi felt the warmest he ever had been.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi wraith!!!!
> 
> I hope you enjoy your gift! I tried to make it fluffy but a lil bit of angst always creeps in when I write Akechi ;; I intended to do all your prompts in one drabble, but ended up focusing on just the one.
> 
> Have a great holiday!!!


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